In Theory
by scarletphlame
Summary: Hatter wakes up with everything she's ever wanted. Until, suddenly, it's not. Hatter/Morris, eventual Hatter/Jack
1. Theory Number One

AN: Yep, it's happening. Oh, Lord. She's back! Scarlet Phlame is back. With a... Wonderland FanFiction! DUN, DUN, DUNN! The world is coming to an end. Quick, grab your coats and scurry out the door! Better push Sherlock Holmes out of the way of that taxi... What is the Doctor doing standing in the middle of the street?! Regina, get out of the freeway, it won't do you any good to get hit by a car!

...Ahem. So, I have returned. I'm not even sure about this fanfic, because it's an idea that's been bouncing around for ages in my head and Wonderland seemed like the best fit. So, here we are.

If a lot of people like it, I'll update a lot more frequently... uh, but it's not like I'm not gonna update if people don't review. Inspiration merely sparks if I have more friendly support. :)

R&R... And don't kill me. Pretty please with a Hatter on top?

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><p><strong>Theory number one: If you wish for something, it will come true.<strong>

_"It is not easy to kill an idea. This much is clear. Once an idea is born, it is there forever. Mention it and it will only return in fire."_

Hatter leans against the wall and rests The Book against the bottom of her chin, frowning in concentration.

It has been a week since The Queen's reign first began. This is not unusual. It has happened in every Wonderland she has appeared in. The Queen's reign begins usually due to continuous stress on the end of the Dreamer–this time, Alice. Which is unusual for this one. She is only 10, after all. To be so young and already to foster growth in such a pure evil is something Hatter can barely imagine.

She reopens The Book and checks off _Evil Antagonist_. Of course. Her mother has just died. This much is quite clear; she is seeding the want for an authority figure to set rule to her mind.

Hatter licks her lips and places the book on the carpet floor beside her. Tentatively, she gives the air a sniff; pinecones, moss, salt. She is on a vacation. The father has taken her. She is not sure what to expect from this. Alice's father has appeared nowhere in her subconscious.

_"You have forgotten that I was born in fire."_

Hatter shudders at the sudden thought. It seems that her own subconscious is creeping closer to her, every moment of every day...she argues with herself, after all. One is never truly alone. They are accompanied by their thoughts.

There are many names for what Hatter is. She prefers 'mad'. It fits her best and subjects her to pity from all sides-after all, _madness_ is truly something that cannot be helped. _Insanity_–yes, to be insane, one must have some level of intelligence. If they were perfectly ordinary, then nothing would be wrong with them at all.

_Parasite_ is a different one.

Hatter is not a parasite. At least, she likes to think she is not. Parasite does not truly explain her. After all, she is subconscious. Subconscious can be viewed as a parasite, but ego is another thing. Perhaps this is it. _Ego_, Hatter thinks, is a very fitting word for her.

_"You need to learn."_

She curls up against the sudden, intruding thought. "Learn what?" she shouts, into the abundant darkness, but there is no response. Not that she was really expecting there to be one.

Her trembling fingers find The Book. She flips past the chapter full of theories–her own theories, written by hand, filling page after page. She likes theories. The word _theory_ sounds much better than the word _wishes_. Her eyes fall upon a new piece of parchment; a map of her own mind. If one is unaware of their own subconscious, after all, it hardly seems fair that the subconscious should be conscious of themselves, after all.

The entire page is blank. Nothing. Nothing. She has lost control of the dream world. She has lost control of _herself_.

She lights a candle but it does little to stop the shadows from converging upon her.


	2. Theory Number Two

**Theory number two: If you ask, then you shall receive.**

"_Hatter_, wake up."

The next words that fall out of her mouth are discombobulated and unsure, and she barely realizes her reaction until it has occurred. "What is it, Morris?"

"We've _run out of tea_."

Hatter is awake, now, _really_ awake, and if nothing else, _alert_. Her eyes fall upon the scene in front of her. Morris is half-dressed, bearing little more than trousers. One of his arms is fitted through the sleeve of a button-up plaid shirt. And he is... apparently, now a human. A rather good-looking one, at that.

It occurs to her that she is in a rather revealing greyish-purple satin nightie.

And Morris' eyes are not front.

She grabs up the blankets around herself. "Get more, then. It's hardly _my_ responsibility." Hatter stares pointedly towards the door in a gesture she hopes successfully conveys '_get the fuck out of my room I am half-dressed you idiot_'.

Morris does not move an inch. Instead, he leans _closer to her face, _a concerned gesture slipping upon his features. "Er, you all right, love?"

Hatter chokes on air. "Excuse me?" This is new. She gives him her most pointed glare. "I assure you that social trivialities will do nothing to impend the inevitable punch you are about to be greeting. In short, _get out of my room_."

Morris throws his hands up in defeat, all the same making a hasty retreat from the room. She glares at him the entire way out, until she is sure he is gone. Immediately, her hands fly underneath the pillow in search of The Book. She's no idea what Morris was doing in her house to begin with, and why he had not gone to their regular herbal supplier to begin with.

She freezes.

The Book is gone.

In a frantic blur, she throws the pillow across the room, waiting for it to materialize, and, when it doesn't, she flees from the house, feet on fire as she storms towards Morris. Now, it is clear, more than ever, why Morris was in her home to begin with. After all, he is the only one other than her that knows of The Book's existence.

"Morris!" she screams, face red with fury. To think she'd trusted him, the _rat_. To think that she'd imagined this was a Glitch, to think that–

"What?"

"Tell me what you've done with it, right now," Hatter hisses. A knife appears in her hand and she is more than willing to hold it against his throat–at least she seems to have _partial_ control.

"S-sorry?!" Morris stutters, eyes darting frantically between the blade of the knife and her face. He looks terrified. He should be. He was an idiot to assume Hatter wouldn't find him out right away.

"The book!" She grabs him by the lapels of his coat and throws him against a nearby wall. "What have you done with it?"

"I don't know about any book!" Morris insists.

"Don't play stupid," Hatter sneers. "I know you have it. I bet you used it, didn't you? To make yourself _human_, to try and trick me into thinking we were friends to begin with. You were the only person other than me who knew about it–I bet you've been planning this for months and months and–"

"Hatter!" Morris shouts. "I don't have any books!"

Hatter leans back so Morris can catch his breath. Her eyes narrow. "I'm not talking about a book. I'm talking about The Book." Morris gives her a genuinely blank expression. "The Book!" She's more desperate now, than anything else. "The Book, the Book that controls everything... controls Alice's subconscious?!" She nearly goes limp. Her grip on him goes slack as his confused expression transforms into worried. It is clear Morris has no idea what she is talking about. He is dense, and he is a coward, and it is certain he is not this good of an actor.

So if Morris doesn't have the book, then who–

Morris extracts himself from her grip. "Hatter, there is no..." he gestures wildly at the air. "Book," he finishes, awkwardly. "Why not go home and get some sleep? You've been overdoing it lately."

Hatter shakes her head, firmly. "No, this isn't you. You're not _nice_, you're not supposed to be _nice_ to _me_," she spits, "you're..." She can't find any more words after that. "No." She shakes her head again. "Someone's stolen the book and is messing with us. They've taken control of Wonderland, and–" Her words come to a halt when there is a hand gripping her shoulder. She looks up.

"I think," Morris begins, slowly, "that you are very tired and in need of some sleep."

Hatter sees no help from Morris. It's clear whoever has acquainted The Book has control over him. So she does what the new Owner of the Book wants her to do; she places on a false smile, and assures Morris that she will go home and get some sleep.

When she reaches her home, of course, this is not what she does.

Instead, she flees to her bedroom and gropes underneath the bed for what she needs most; the Book's paper. She's always kept a hidden page from it, in case anything has ever gone wrong–it's been programmed to be in one of three places whenever she needs it. She grins as her fingers find the page. She writes at the top of the page, 'In Theory', and then, in the center, 'Rules created by The Book will always have mirror sides'.

Satisfied, she shoves the page underneath the mattress of her bed and climbs in. After all, dreams only take effect after one has taken the liberty of sleep.


End file.
